If you have an outsourcing contract for work in Bogota, Colombia, Bangkok, Thailand, or Johannesburg, South Africa, you should be aware that they rank as the riskiest offshore outsourcing destinations in the world. Locations in India and Brazil also made this inauspicious list. Where do you outsource?

"Interruptions to U.S. business customers have upset the sense of security that made Indian offshoring, in particular, an uncomplicated buying decision," says Doug Brown, principal of outsourcing research firm The Brown-Wilson Group and co-author of the recent report 2009: The Year of Outsourcing Dangerously. "CIOs are putting continued hold on offshore projects that were routine just a year ago and analyzing alternatives that mitigate unresolved risks."

Promising locations like South Africa, Colombia, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico have done little in terms of government initiatives or social change to allay client fears about their safety as an outsourcing destination, says Brown. And some countries with more established IT export businesses, like the Philippines and Brazil, have been slow to progress.

In fact, a few emerging offshoring locations have made strides in mitigating risks inherent to their countries while still keeping costs low, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Chile and Egypt, Brown adds.